Explosive.



UNITED S TES ATENT OFFICE.

JAMES F. OIBRIEN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

:exrnosrvn- 1,021,882, Specification of Letters Fatent. Patented Apr. 2 1912.

No Drawing." A Application filed September'E, 1911. Serial No. 647,473.

4' To ellwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES F; OBRIEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook, State of Illinois, have invented new and useful .Im-

. provements i-n Explosives, of which the folof the explosive. The pro ort-ion of 'cyano lowing is a specification. V

This invention relates to an explosive in powder form; and the prime object thereof is the; production of a relatively simple substance which will give thedeslred reaction and which is comparativel inexpensive to manufacture; and particu arly, to provide means for regulating the speed of combustion in a simple and efiicient manner.

, Broadly considered, my explosive is based on a combin'a tion of a chlorate of an alkali metal with a carbo-hydrate or with a number of carbo-hydrates; and in further comgen compound .is normal i kept comparatively small, approximatey two percent. t

or less. With a maximum of two per cent. of this cyanogen compound the explosive is a as quick as is desired for all ordinary work;

while, with a minimumamount of the cyanogen compound, the explosive is sufliciently slow for such work as blasting in soft coal.-

" In practice, I use a mixture of potassium chlorate, about seventy-five per cent, and sugar or sugar and starchabout twenty five per cent. To these I add the desired amount of cyanogen com .ound in the form of ferric ferro-cyanid, or russian blue.-

The most preferred form of this explosive-the form giving the most powerful results-is comprised of potassium. chlorate seventy-five per cent. and of sugar twentyfive per cent. with the desired amount of Prussian blue. This is the specific form which I wish to cover in the following claims, although I also wish to-cover the general combination of a chlorate of an alali metal, a carbo-hydrate or carbo-hydrates, and the Prussian blue or a cyanogen comp'mmd'a The explosive as above described has many distinct advantages. It is extremely simple in its composition and manufacture and can be made Very inexpensively. In practice, I add sufiicient water to the sugar or other carbo-hydrate to form a solution and then apply heat to melt or dissolve the carbo-hydrate. The chlorate is powdered and is then mixed with the carbo-hydrate. The cyanogen compound may either be placed directly in the carbo-hydrate before mixing or it may be placed in the mixture of the chlorate andthe calico-hydrate. The resultant mass is pasty anti is granulated'and dried for hommercial use \Vith a minimum amount of the cyanogen compound, or with none atall, the powder is comparatively slow in combustion and is suitable for such work. as blasting in soft coaland the like where it is not desiredto break the blast up into fine particles. With the maximum amount of cyanogen compound the explosive is rendered sufficiently quick in combustion to have an action somewhat resembling dynamite and ni-tro-glycerin. The explosive is thus-suited for universal use. It has been in explosive action than eighty per cent. dynamite. Lastly, the explosive leaves no'residuewhatever after combustion, it is entirely smokeless, and it creates no poisonous gases by its combustion.

Having described my invention, I claim:

lpAn explosive, consisting of potassium chlorate and sugar in proportions approxi-' mately three to one and containing a relatively small amount of Prussian blue.

2. An explosive, consisting of "KClO seventy five parts, C H O twenty five parts, and a relatively small amount of Fe (Fe(CN) ,3. An explosive, consisting of KCIO seventy five parts, C H O, twenty five parts, and a maximum of approximately two percent. of the total of the said ingredients of Fe (Fe(CN),),.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 30th day of August 1911.

, JAMES F. OBRIEN.

Witnesses:

JAS. H. BALLAGH, James T. BARKELEW.'

. v fer five cents each, by addressing the commissioner of I'atents,

80 determined by repeated tests to be stronger Y 

